Earlier this spring, the Ford PC government boasted that in order to raise low police recruitment numbers, Ontario taxpayers will now be covering 100 percent of all tuition fees for new police hires' Basic Constable Training.

The PCs' Bill 102 - which was debated at Third Reading yesterday - would also eliminate the post-secondary requirement for new police recruits in Ontario. Click here to read the bill.

What the media did not report was that the current post-secondary requirement for police recruits was introduced and made law by the same Ford government in 2019!

The Ford PCs can't seem to make up their minds when it comes to addressing the very real issue of low police recruitment numbers.

Had they not advocated for COVID-19 vaccine requirements across police forces and post-secondary institutions in recent years, we would have more officers on our streets today.

Moreover, the Ford PCs exacerbated the erosion of public trust in law enforcement when they ordered police to fine Ontarians for having more than 10 guests over or for entering a restaurant without a COVID-19 passport - and later when Doug Ford declared a "state of emergency" with orders that police fine protestors and seize truckers' vehicles and licences at the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa.

One thing we have learned in the last five years under Ontario's faux conservative government is that it has no guiding principles.

The Ford PCs either govern based on faulty polling, or - more often - take pages directly out of the federal Liberal Party's playbook.

While the PCs scramble to solve a problem that they created, the New Blue Party will continue to advocate for truth, justice, and limited government in Ontario.

I hope you will consider a contribution to help us keep building and prepare for the upcoming provincial by-elections in three ridings. Click here to chip in!

Thank you for your support!

Belinda Karahalios
New Blue Party of Ontario